How to Work from Home Successfully

Starting my own business working from home was, without doubt, the best thing I ever did.  Five years in, I still love it and I’m always picking up more tips on how to work at home successfully.  If you are new to it or simply want to review your daily routines and habits, here are some of the best tips on how to make the most of working at home, including a few of my own.

How to work at home

Let’s face it, on paper, working from home seems like a dream.  You can work in your pyjamas on the sofa, take a break to watch some TV and be there when the family want you.  But the reality should be a bit different.  Because if you don’t take your business seriously and set yourself up with the right space and mindset, you may find you don’t get stuff done.

Create a dedicated workspace

The first thing to do is to create a dedicated workspace for yourself.  And here’s my biggest tip – make it somewhere away from the busiest areas of the house and with a DOOR!  I don’t have kids, but I do share with three other adults (hubby and parents) as well as having nine cats.  Ours isn’t a big house.  My mistake was to set up my office in the dining room half of the kitchen-diner.

Bad idea.  Every time someone wants me, I’m a shout away.  The cats run riot across my desk when I’m working.  The TV in the living room (no door to there) drives me nuts.  What I should have done is convert an area of our bedroom into an office where there’s a door and a gap to the rest of the house.  We are currently selling the house and guess what was the first thing on the list for the new one – a dedicated space with a door for my home office!  I can’t wait!!

Design it as an office

When you have your dedicated space, it is also a good idea to make it into an office.  That means making it into somewhere with your computer, printer and other office equipment.  Maybe a soft chair to sit back and relax while on breaks.  But don’t have a TV, DVD player or other entertainment equipment in there.  Make it firmly into an office, not a second living room.

Wear proper clothes

I’ll admit I never went through the ‘working in my PJs’ stage, I’ve only ever felt dressed wearing jeans or linen trousers and a top.  But once you have your office, dress properly to work in it.  You don’t have to wear a business suit but even a t-shirt and jogging pants will be great – just make it part of your routine to get ready for work.

Manage distractions

Going back to my earlier tip about where to work, you also want to manage distractions.  Most of the time, my family realise when I’m at the desk, I’m working and try to leave me alone.  But then there is the TV or friends popping in. 

The key isn’t to cut everything out but to manage them – if a friend pops around, allow yourself a little break for a chat then politely send them on their way.  If you want to watch something on the TV, take a break to do it – but only one show!

Try working away from home

This is one I haven’t tried because I don’t drive and public transport here isn’t great – it is just too much trouble to get somewhere else to work.  But I know lots of people who work away from home in places like Starbucks for a while.  Get a coffee, grab the free Wi-Fi and change your environment.

Tips for working from home effectively

The next part of starting to work from home successfully is to plan your day and to create a routine.  While you might not seem like you are ‘going’ to work, the best mindset is if you treat it like this.

Have set working hours

First on the list is to set working hours.  Now you don’t always have to adhere to these, but it is good to have a basic schedule.  And if you work with clients, you can tell them this and let them know when you are available – and when you aren’t.  For me, I have two sections to my workday – the part for client work and the part for my other businesses.  On my ‘opening hours’ I only list the client work section.  The other part of the day is for me to do other stuff.

Have a start and finish routine

There are hundreds of different ideas on what to do here and you can find your own with a little experimentation.  For me, the first thing I do is to check my emails and respond to anything urgent, file stuff to read later and delete the rest.  I’ll have a quick check o Facebook, especially my own group to see if anyone has posted anything I can help with overnight.  Then I’ll start client work.

Towards the end of the day, I aim to have an hour where I do some training.  I have LOADS of courses to go through from these irresistible bundles and pick out 3-4 that I want to work through next.  Then I often spend a little time doing something frivolous like playing a computer game before I finish for the day.  It winds me down and cuts off work thoughts.

Take regular breaks and move around

It can feel great when you get in the zone and plough through getting stuff done – until you stand up and you are as stiff as a board!  I make myself get up pretty regular for a walk around because my back gets upset if I don’t.  And taking regular breaks helps to refresh the brain – just aim to do it when you finish something, so you don’t have to restart in the middle of a job.

Manage expectations of friends and family

We all have them – people that pop in without warning and because you work from home, think you are always available.  It is hard but a good idea to manage their expectations from the start.  Tell them your working hours and if they have to call during that time, you can only stop for half an hour or something similar.  Be firm and make them treat you as working then you will be!

Work from home successfully

When you start to put it all together, you will start to see your best way to work at home successfully.  But there are just a few last tips I wanted to include to help you make the most of your time.

Conquer procrastination

I had never really encountered the idea of procrastination until I started working from home, but it is a real thing.  It often involves putting off unpleasant or boring jobs in favour of more fun things – but those boring jobs never get done.

There are lots of different causes of procrastination and ways it can impact your working day.  Understanding how it works for you and conquering it will let you get more done, even those boring jobs.

Work when you are most productive

Working when you are at your most productive will see you make the best use of your time.  sometimes there are factors that mean you can’t – maybe you are a morning person but have to take the kids to school.  But wherever possible, schedule your most important work for your most productive time.

A good way to figure out when to work is to look at your most productive times.  ProBlogger recommends a quiz that tells you your ‘chronotype’ to help you plan this but most of us probably know.  For me, I’m best in morning and afternoon.  By around 7 pm, I’ve run out of steam and want to relax and watch some TV.  So acknowledge when you get the most done and set your working hours around that.

Plan your work in batches

For the non-client work side of things, one approach that has helped me make the most of working from home is to batch jobs.  I have two blogs; one you are reading this article on and another a food blog.  That means writing posts, social media marketing, Pinterest and all that fun stuff.

So I batch jobs for both blogs into days.  Saturday is post writing day, Friday is scheduling social media and Monday is Pinterest.  On those days, I do everything in the job for both the blogs and it is done for another week.  You can also apply this to all kinds of tasks such as applying for client work, reaching out to sponsored post opportunities, networking and more.

Use the best work from home apps

The reality of working from home is that you need to use whatever tools you can find to make the job easier.  For me, if it wasn’t for organisation tools like Trello and Asana, nothing would get done.  Airtable is another crucial tool that lets me keep track of lots of things.  It is important to find the best tools to help you work at home productively and that you feel happy using.

Don’t be afraid to delegate and get help!

One final tip before we go and get some work done – don’t be afraid to delegate and ask for help!  As a business owner, we fall into the trap of thinking that working from home successfully means doing everything ourselves, but this isn’t true. 

I personally work with an amazing graphic designer who sorts images for me and I manage her Pinterest account.  I also have a brilliant VA who helps me with all kinds of tasks.  As soon as you can afford it, get some help.  And if you can’t, see if you can barter a swap with someone – this means you both get something you need but there’s no money involved!

Hopefully, these tips will help you organise or reorganise your work from home schedule.  And if you have any tips of your own, please pop them in the comments below!